JB: My podcasts seems to cycle randomly and I found myself listening this week to a 1991 Radio Curious interview with Bernie during his first term in Congress. It is truly amazing. He sounded (or sounds) very much the same, the themes he hammered then are exactly the same ones twenty-five years later. Most candidates change themselves like chameleons to reflect what they think will "sell". He really is cut from a different mold. But what does that say that his key issues: income inequality, job creation, environment, diverting military money to rebuild infrastructure, single-payer....? None of them have come to fruition; all are equally relevant and even more pressing now.
RK: Well, that's pretty much the same thing I noted about Martin Luther King and his 1967 Riverside Church address. It's still excruciatingly relevant half a century later, even though the war spewing poison into our soul is a different war. We're still pursuing the interests of empire, still letting our cities go to hell, still ignoring virtually all our social problems and, oh yeah, creating new ones. Think Flint, Michigan's poisoned water supply. Bernie's persistence over a quarter century is admirable and I hope his time has come. I hope OUR time has come. The USA claims leadership in transcending the age of poverty and war.
JB: From your mouth to God's ear, as they say. Can we expect more pushing back against the political trivialization machine from you in this election cycle? Your writing is a welcome respite from what passes as objective news coverage these days.
RK: Absolutely, Joan! I'll work hard to bring soul to the presidential race and continue to address the urgency of this moment in American and global history. What I see as necessary in our political and governing process is the ascension of our higher values into the realm of policy. Instead of kill the enemy, we need to advance the connectedness of all humanity, a goal that Dr. King worked and prayed and died for half a century ago. His dream lives.
JB: Thanks for reminding us of that, Bob. It's always good to talk with you. Thanks so much!
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Read more of Bob atCommon Wonders
my previous interviews with Bob:
Bob Koehler Reflects on Charleston Church Killings and the Larger Picture 6.24.2015
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